Abstract
Purpose. The legitimacy and transparency in the food labeling law is questionable since genetically modified organism (GMOs) ingredients are not declared on the label. There is a lack of legitimacy and transparency in the labeling law and the research conducted at land-grant universities. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the big agriculture corporations (Big Ags) funding to land-grant universities affects the research agenda and as a result affects the GMOs bills in state legislation.Theoretical Framework. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the Policy Subsystem of Advocacy Coalition Framework, which mobilizes the movement of anti-genetic engineering and initiates the "right to know" about foods containing GMOs ingredients.Methodology. The subjects in this study were the land-grant universities in states that have GMOs bills. A total of 34 states have introduced a type of GMOs bill into their legislation. Utilizing Big Ag funding data provided from the universities, the correlations between states' GMOs policy were analyzed by inferential statistic.Findings. There appears to be a correlation between the influx of Big Ag funding on the research agenda and results of the anti-GMOs bills. However, there is a significant correlation between the citizen-state ideology and the results of the anti-GMOs bills. In addition, Big Ag funding appears to have an effect on the amount of GMOs seeds planted in the United States.Conclusion and Recommendations. The study data appear to support that there is a correlation between Big Ag funding on the anti-GMOs bills; however, it is not significant. There appear to be multiple factors that contribute to the results of the anti-GMOs bills. Further research is advised to determine the cause of a failed versus adopted anti-GMOs bills. The study should be replicated with a greater number of public universities to provide more generalized data. It is also recommended that the citizen-state ideology should be further studied as to why it significantly affects the results of the anti-GMOs bills.